Carton locking apparatus



y 0, 1968 s. w. GREENWAY 3,394,529

CARTON LOCKING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 25, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. GERALD W. Gmuwav July 30, 1968 G. w. GIEENWAY 3,394,529

CARTON LOCKING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 25, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

I5 1e, ll Hm: 1 Ho.

Mac [lb [7b |5 |7 llb I60 u L4 HQ I00. 0 I8 log o l8 lOb lOb

FIG. 5

INVENTOR. GERALD W. Gazcwumv A'RORNEVS United States Patent 3,394,529 CARTON LOCKING APPARATUS Gerald W. Greenway, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Owens- Illinois, Inc., a corporation of Ohio Filed Feb. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 530,071 2 Claims. (Cl. 53-329) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a portable, manually operable apparatus for locking a fibreboard lid to an open-topped carton and comprises a rigid frame structure which is manually positionable on the lid and pivotally supponts a pair of generally U-shaped actuators which are concurrently manually operable to move foldable tabs on the lid respectively inwardly through hand grips in the carton and then upwardly to lie adjacent the wall of the carton.

This invention relates to an apparatus for locking a paperboard lid to an open top carton, and mor particularly to a fixture permitting the rapid, convenient and accurate locking of the lock flap of a telescoping fi'breboard cover to a fibreboard box body.

There are many examples in the prior art of fibreboard boxes, e. g,, corrugated board boxes, used for the packaging of innumerable products wherein it is desirable to achieve a locking of a lid or cover to the box after the box is filled with the desired commodity. Such locking is generally achieved by folding tab portions of the cover or lid into intimate engagement with appropriate recesses or openings in the end walls of the box body; however, when this operation is performed manually, it requires a fair amount of strength and dexterity, and at the same time, very often produces cuts or blisters on the hands of the operator due to the sharp edges of the corrugated board normally encountered to some degree in all such operations.

Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to produce an apparatus for conveniently effecting the locking of a fibreboard lid to an open top fibreboard carton which will permit such operation to be performed with a minimum of manual effort and without subjecting the hands of the operator to any possibility of cuts or abrasions.

The specific nature of this invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the annexed sheets of drawings, on which there is shown a preferred embodiment of this invention.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded, perspective View of a known corrugated board box and corrugated board telescoping cover for same.

FIGURE 2 is a partial sectional view showing the desired relationship of the locking flaps of the cover to the box when finally assembled to the box of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view illustrating an apparatus embodying this invention shown in an operative relationship to a carton and a telescoping cover therefor which are to be locked together.

FIGURE 4 is a partial elevational view, partly in section of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 but illustrating the final position of the apparatus embodying this invention after the flap locking operation has been accomplished.

As shown on the drawings:

Reference numeral designates a known corrugated box structure formed in a known fashion by folding up and stapling a specially cut and scored sheet of corrugated 3,394,529 Patented July 30, 1968 board into an open top box configuration. For many such boxes, particularly boxes employed for the packaging of relatively heavy commodities, it is desirable to provide means for convenient manual handling of the filled box, and this may take the form of a pair of oval-shaped hand grip openings 10a respectively provided in opposed end walls 10b of the box 10. It may also be desirable, 'for a punpose hereafter described, to have the interior side wall flaps of the box respectively extend to a position overlying one end portion of the hand grip opening 10a. The interior flaps 10c also obviously provide additional greater strength to the box.

A telescoping cover 11 is provided for box 10 which is also formed in a known fashion by folding up a specially cut and scored sheet of corrugated board and resulting in a shallow tray-like configuration to snugly telescope over the open top end of the box 10. Each side wall portion 11a which normally overlies the hand grip openings 10a of the box is scored to provide a foldable locking flap 1112 which, when broken away from the material of the side wall 11a, is hinged to such side wall at a fold line 110, and an additional fold line 11d, parallel to fold line is also provided for a purpose to be hereafter described.

Referring to FIGURE 2, the locking of cover 11 onto box 10 is accomplished by folding each locking tab 11b inwardly relative to the cover side wall 11a so that the locking tab 11b projects into the adjacent hand grip opening 10a of the box 10, and then is folded about the second fold line 11d to assume a position snugly adjacent to the interior face of the box side wall 1%. The locking tab 11b will be snugly held in this position by virtue of the fact that it is partly overlapped at each lateral end by the aforedescribed interior box flaps 10c.

Referring now to FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, there is shown an apparatus embodying this invention comprising a skeletonized frame structure 15 including a rigid main frame member 15a which is proportioned to overlie that portion of the box cover 11 lying intermediate the locking tabs 11b. To assist in the positioning of frame 15, a pair of laterally projecting frame strips 15b are provided having depending end portions 15c which respectively engage the other side wall of the box cover 11. It is therefore apparent that the frame structure 15 may be quickly and convenienly applied by an operator in the proper position on the top of any closed box assembly.

At each end of the main frame member 15a a depending bracket 16 is rig-idly secured and is adapted to snugly abut the end wall portions 110 of the cover which lie immediately above the locking flap 11b. A pair of ears 16a is provided on each bracket 16 to receive a pivot pin 160.

An actuator 17 is p-ivotally mounted on each pin 16c. Each actuator is of generally U-shaped configuration, and the pivot pin 16c passes through one leg 17a of the U- shaped actuator 17 so as to mount each actuator for pivotal movement in a vertical plane, and with the other leg 17b of the actuator disposed to be brought into contact with the adjacent locking flap 11b. A handle 18 or any other suitable actuating means is provided on each actuator 17 so as to permit each actuator to be respectively pivoted in a direction which moves the actuator leg 17b toward the interior of the box 10.

Such movement of each actuator 17 breaks the adjacent locking flap 11b from the end wall 11a of the cover 11 and folds the locking flap 11b inwardly through the hand grip opening 10a about the fold line 110. Further pivotal movement of each actuator 17 then deflects the locking tab 11b in an upwardly direction about the fold line 11a to lie snugly adjacent to the interior face of the box side wall 10b. As previously mentioned, the additional internal box fi-aps 100 are deflected inwardly by this motion, as shown in FIGURES, and then returned to their original position 3 upon reverse pivotal movement of the actuator 17 to securely lock the locking tabs 11b in their final positions illustrated in FIGURE 2.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that the apparatus embodying this invention permits a telescoping cover to be locked to a filled box with the utmost dispatch. Due to the favorable leverage provided by the handles 18, the amount of manual effort required on the part of the operator is practically negligible, and the hands of the operator need never come in contact with the freshcut edges of the corrugated board, hence eliminating all possibilities of cuts or other injury to the operator.

It will further be apparent to those skilled in the art that the apparatus described could be readily automated to eliminate any manual effort on the part of the operator by providing a suitable hydraulic motor for pivoting the actuators 17. All such modifications of this invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Portable apparatus for locking a fibreboard lid to an open top carton, the carton having hand grip openings in two opposed upstanding walls and the lid having two downwardly projecting foldable tabs respectively overlying said hand grip openings when the lid is applied to the carton, comprising: a rigid frame structure manually positionable on said lid, said frame structure having a pair of opposed depending brackets respectively located above said tabs, a pair of generally U-shaped actuators, means for respectively pivotally mounting one leg of each actuator to one of said brackets for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis and to move the other leg of the actuator into engagement with the adjacent tab, and manual means for concurrently pivoting said actuators toward and into the interior of the carton, whereby the other leg of the actuator folds the adjacent tab innwardly through said hand grip opening and then upwardly to lie adjacent an interior wall of the carton above the hand grip opening.

2. Apparatus for locking a fibreboard lid to an open top carton, the carton having at least one tab receiving recess in an upstanding wall and the lid having a downwardly projecting foldable tab overlying said opening when the lid is applied to the carton, comprising: a rigid frame structure positionable in overlying relationship to said lid, a generally U-shaped actuator, means for pivotally mounting one leg of said actuator to said frame structure for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis between two angularly spaced positions, in the first of said positions said other leg of the actuator being substanfially horizontal and adapted to engage said tab, and means for pivoting said actuator toward the interior of the canton to said second position where said other leg of the actuator is substantially vertical and lies within the interior of the carton, whereby the other leg of the actuator folds said tab inwardly through said recess and then upwardly to lie adjacent a wall of the carton interiorly of the recess.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,803,934 8/1957 Lubersky 53-376 TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner.

R. L. FARRIS, Assistant Examiner. 

